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Planes
The various outer planes of reality including the four elements (Earth, Fire, Water and Air) as well as the planes of Light and Dark. The planes of existence are different realities with interwoven connections. Except for rare linking points, each plane is effectively its own universe with its own natural laws. The planes are home to more powerful variants of familiar creatures and unique monsters, all of which have adapted to their strange environments. The planes break down into a number of general types: Material Planes, Transitive Planes, Inner Planes, Outer Planes, and demiplanes. These types aren’t exclusive (you may find deities on the Transitive Planes, for example), but most planes fall neatly into one category. Material Planes: These planes are the ones most familiar to characters and are usually the setting for a standard D&D campaign. The Material Planes tend to be the most earthlike and operate under the same set of natural laws. The D&D rules are designed with Material Planes in mind. Most campaign settings have only one Material Plane in a campaign setting, and the Material Plane is the “home base” for that campaign. Transitive Planes: This mixed bag of planes are grouped together by a common use: getting from one place to another. The Astral Plane is used to reach other planes, while the Ethereal Plane and the Plane of Shadow are both used for transportation within the Material Plane they’re connected to. These planes have the strongest regular interaction with the Material Plane and are often accessed by using various spells. They have native inhabitants as well. Outer Planes: Also called planes of power, these realities are incarnations of the basic building blocks of the universe. They are made up of a single energy or element that overwhelms all others. The natives of Inner Planes are made of these elements as well. The Outer Planes can be divided into two groups: elemental planes, which symbolize the physical properties of the universe (earth, air, fire, and water), and energy planes, which represent the creative and destructive forces of the universe (positive and negative energy). The planes of power are hostile to planar travelers, who should take care when crossing them. Known Outer Planes #Air #Fire #Water #Earth #Light #Dark #Shard Realm Inner Planes: The homes of beings of great power, these planes are also called the godly planes, spiritual planes, or divine planes. The deities themselves live here, as do creatures such as celestials, demons, and devils. The Outer Planes tend to have alignments, representing a particular moral or ethical outlook, and their inhabitants tend to behave in agreement with those alignments. The Inner Planes are also the final resting place of spirits from the Material Plane, whether that final rest is calm introspection or eternal damnation. Known Inner Planes: #Abyss Demiplanes: This catch-all category covers all extradimensional spaces that function like planes but have measurable size and limited access. Other kinds of planes are theoretically infinite in size, but a demiplane might be only a few hundred feet across. Access to demiplane may be limited to particular locations (such as a fixed gateway) or particular situations (such as a time of year or a weather condition). Some demiplanes are created by spells, some naturally evolve, and some appear according to the will of the deities. Finally, the planes may be connected in different fashions; not every plane links to another directly.